RWBY: The Hollow
by WC-83
Summary: Sidestory to Dark Souls III: The Invincible Girl. Pyrrha Nikos, having endured the hell that was Lothric, suddenly finds herself back in Remnant, back with her friends and in her old home. But she has kept everything that has happened to her in Lothric, and her home is not with her. Multi-hosted on, Sufficient Velocity, the RWBY wiki, and on Ao3 with the help of Arkantos95.
1. Ch 1: Life in Technicolor

Ch 1: Life in Technicolor

 _I faded one day, I tried as much. I had taken a life in a moment of fear, and I had ceased to be somehow. In one day, the world had ended, monsters flooded the air and streets, tearing apart the place I had called home. The time had come for me to achieve my destiny, to be a hero, to save the people I loved. The person I loved, even if I couldn't remember them due to my actions._

 _I failed. And no matter how I saw it, it was all I could think about, it invaded my mind. I wanted, I needed to redeem myself. I had to leave my friends behind if I was to meet my destiny._

 _I rose, I fought, I tried everything in my power to save the land. But in the end, I died, never seeing the faces of my loving friends in my new home, or those of my family in my old one, ever again. And yet it wasn't the end. What came next, could only be described as the torture and suffering after death, a world of endless bloodshed and struggle._

 _I saw a world with no hope, no peace, no order except its fall, the constant cycle of death and undeath, a cycle I was powerless to resist as I succumbed to it as well. I had fought through much, I had changed so much. I had lost so much. I had done so much all in the hope of going back, in being with the people I cared about and loved, in the world that had kept me so safe. Away from the Hell that I had been kept in, away from the dead friends and the decaying ruins of what used to be a stable world once. But hope only made things more frightening…_

 _I learned hope is not to be yearned for lightly._

* * *

Pyrrha's body was heavy, and lifeless, curled up in the grass with eyes shut tight. Slowly, they fluttered open, her skin feeling blissfully cool and refreshed from the air and dew. She stirred and shuffled on the ground before quickly springing to her feet. She was no longer in Firelink by the bonfire, she was no longer trying in vain to get a good night's sleep for a change. She breathed in cool, clean air, and saw bright, verdurous trees. She blinked and stared, still wearing her steel armor and with her weapons acquired in Lothric strapped to her, her hair shortened. And she felt something more, something eating away at her that she didn't want to think about.

Her head was heavy and swimming, though she did not know why, though it may have been beautiful. She looked up above the trees and saw...mountains. Not just any other mountains, they were familiar to her. She had seen them before, in Mistral, always in the distance. She only vaguely remembered them, but her heart began fluttering regardless, and she began spinning around, looking for... _something_. A path, or a way out of the tree line, and she began moving.

But she stopped and took out her weapons. Something was in the woods with her. She began to hear shuffling...and the sound of trees falling. She spun and rolled to the left, dodging a large creature that had barreled through and nearly uprooted the trees in front of her. The creature, which had the appearance of a large white and black scorpion, immediately spun around and tried to slam its tail into the ground where Pyrrha was standing. Time slowed down and she rolled toward the tail, causing it to stab the ground behind her, followed by twirling around to slash its golden stinger off.

As it reeled in pain, it tried to swipe at Pyrrha, its blind swipe blocked by her shield. Pyrrha didn't miss a beat and slashed the pincer off before stabbing straight at its "head," causing its carapace to crack and splinter from the force.

Pyrrha panted and relaxed as it began to give off a black smoke…..which then grasped Pyrrha's attention. This...was a Grimm, a Deathstalker, she remembered. It was one of the first things she had fought with her team, when she was initiated into Beacon Academy. She put her hand to her head, memories and thoughts once again flooding her mind. It all sounded so...unreal, now. But the mountains, the Deathstalker…

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!** "

She turned around to where she heard the high pitched scream, and saw a plume of black smoke arising over the treeline in the distance. With no leads, she decided to follow it.

* * *

The Nuckelavee was no more, and Ren, tearing the knife from its head, breathed a sigh of relief, years of grief and memories having been pushed behind him at last. He turned, only to be glomped by Nora, who covered him in a crushing hug of joy. Jaune smiled at this before turning to the treeline right outside of town. But as he did, he noticed something moving toward them, a small reddish glint among the trees. He craned his head and moved forward. The figure then jumped out and rolled in front of the line, having lost their balance.

The figure stood up and raised its head to Jaune's eye level, revealing a pair of soft, green eyes.

Pyrrha froze where she was just as Jaune had. "Jaune?" she had asked, not being loud enough to even be considered whispering. Jaune's mouth was open slightly, his eyes widened and piercing without any input.

The two stared at each other for several years it seemed like, not moving once. Pyrrha's hair had been roughly cut to a much shorter length than she had before, without a ponytail. Her armor was different too, having a steel cuirass with short sleeves and metal gauntlets, with full plate boots, all having several nicks and scratches. The only part of her armor that seemed to remain was her skirt, which was torn and frayed, with her belt faded. All of this was a distraction from his real thoughts. Pyrrha Nikos was alive...and right in front of him. After so long...

Before he could open his mouth, Nora and Ren had approached him and saw Pyrrha for themselves. Nora hesitated, but quickly smiled. "Pyrrha? Pyrrha!" She immediately charged forward for a hug.

Pyrrha flinched but quickly fell into the hug underneath Nora's strength. "N-Nora! Oh my god, oh it's so good to see you!" Tears rolled out of Nora's eyes and onto Pyrrha's neck as she embraced her. Ren quietly, but happily came to hug Pyrrha as well.

Ruby, who had been helping Qrow walk, was shooed away from that when Qrow saw what was happening with the rest of the team. She set down Qrow and immediately ran to the group, with tears in her eyes. "Pyrrha!"

Pyrrha looked and caught Ruby's hug as she went into her. "Ruby! Oh, you're safe! The last time I saw you…" Although Pyrrha's eyes were clamped shut, she was too happy to even cry tears of joy and continued to be smothered in the warm, caring hugs of her friends, something she had gone so long without.

From her embrace she looked up at Jaune, who was still standing still, but with a single tear in his eye and a smile that grew as the tear went down. Just then a gust of wind blasted them and Pyrrha pushed them all back and put her hand to the hilt of her broadsword, but on looking up they saw what it was. They all looked up and saw two Mistral patrol craft flying overhead, hovering over them.

* * *

Ruby immediately gathered Qrow and went on the one with Ren and Nora, while Pyrrha and Jaune were given one to themselves. They knew the pilots were saying something about not being able to patrol over Mistral due to the lethality of Grimm attacks recently, but they couldn't hear them as they were drowned out by the silence.

All the two could do was stare at each other it seemed, or look down in awkward silence. Pyrrha took the chance to look at Jaune's new armor too, with his new gauntlets and golden trim along his breastplate and shield, along with an ornate design on the lower part of….

"Jaune, is...is that my circlet?" Pyrrha finally broke the ice with one of the most inane things to notice when flying above scenic Mistral.

Jaune perked up and shuffled about before realizing what she was referring to, turning red as a tomato. "Oh, uh well I didn't- I thought- well you were…"

Pyrrha then started giggling and tried valiantly to cover it with her hand. It was the first time she was ever able to do that, she realized, a wave of happiness going through her mind as she remembered how he cheered her up by wearing a dress at the Beacon dance. Here, after all she's been through, all Jaune Arc had to do was be himself. They both smiled at each other, before Pyrrha leaned in.

They both met each other. Pyrrha's cheeks became hot and she felt her heart speed up. Jaune used his free left hand to hold Pyrrha closer. As his hand touched her back near the lumbar, however, the universe exploded. Pyrrha saw several screaming corpses rushing toward her, a woman with white hair and a steel visor blocking her eyes, and an orange, fiery circle.

Pyrrha gasped and pushed herself away from Jaune, breathing heavily. "Pyrrha? I-I'm sorry, are you alright?"

Pyrrha looked at Jaune. After what seemed like an eternity of torment, pain, and suffering through a decaying world, her only response was: "I...I'm fine, Jaune. T-thank you" she smiled, somewhat weakly.

Soon they were in sight of Mistral, its elaborate mountainside structure overseeing a lush, beautiful town. Pyrrha's eyes softened. Home. The word was….odd to her, somehow...

* * *

Ruby was given a room with Qrow, checking up on him. He had bandages across his abdomen that were soaked through with poison, and he was only now able to properly recover.

Pyrrha remained in the room JNPR was given for a time, wanting to see it for herself. It was so spacious and warm, with a painting of the old city hanging near the bed. But she was focused on the mirror. She was scratched, shaken, and somewhat unkempt from her time in that world, Lothric it was called. But it wasn't the full story. She was twiddling a ring she had on her finger, a dark and gray little ornament that no one had seen. Finally she gripped it, and gently removed it.

Instantly she saw her true form, her ashen, dessicated skin. She saw her full, yet stringy and loose hair and decaying teeth under blackened lips. Most hurtful of all were her eye sockets being almost empty, save for red, glowing pinpricks of light surrounded by a void. Her head silently lowered, and she shed tears. No matter how warm, how accepting they were, they couldn't change what had happened. They couldn't understand how she was so much different now.

Footsteps approached the room while she wasn't paying attention. She quickly slipped the ring back on, reverting to her "original" appearance just as Jaune had turned the handle. Suddenly Pyrrha's worries seemed quiet and small. Jaune, as well as Ren and Nora, both looking quite content with each other, walked over to her and sat against the bedside. Pyrrha sat next to Jaune and placed her hand on his, leaning against his shoulder. For now, at least, she felt at peace. She was with her friends, no, family again, and she hadn't felt anywhere near as happy to have them than now.

Regardless, she didn't tell them how chilly everything seemed to feel.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Now, you** _ **might**_ **be wondering why there isn't another chapter for Invincible Girl up, and that would be because of school, writer's block, and good old fashioned laziness getting in the way. But I didn't want to rush and push out the next chapter half-baked, so I made this sidestory (that I'd been thinking of for some time) to sate your appetite. It is currently non-canon, but elements from it might go into Invincible Girl (ae: broad-strokes).**

 **Updates will probably continue once V4 finally decides to start and give us some information.**

 **For and Ao3 users, future chapters of this side story will be posted in its separate story.**

 **The next chapter in Invincible Girl will be Band of Brothers, The Abyss Watchers. Now you know why I stalled (I mean, carefully plotted out) my time.**


	2. Ch 2: Among Absent Friends

Ch 2: Among Absent Friends

The time finally came when they would have to retire to bed. The journey to Mistral and the fight with a creature such as a Nucklevee was taxing on RNJR and they wanted to rest before speaking with the Haven Headmaster, Leonardo Lionheart, in the morning.

Pyrrha, however, didn't sleep. She hadn't slept in such a long time, she stopped trying. When she tried to go back, it lead to her tossing and turning in her bed. The bed creaked as she twitched and grasped her blanket tight in her hands. Finally she snapped her eyes open and gasped, her hands tearing apart the blanket.

After she stared at the tear she made in the blanket she sat up and looked around. Her room was completely quiet and empty, all her belongings strewn in a heap next to her bed. All, except her ring.

The bed was too soft, her room too cold, her sleepwear too smooth. After what seemed like an hour of deathly, conscious stillness, she left her room.

She passed by several rooms, where everyone else was sleeping. She passed Nora's room, who was snoring like a sailor, and passed Ren's, which was right next to hers.

She stopped at Jaune's room, opening it just a crack, just enough to get a look. Jaune was sleeping peacefully in his bed, a smile could faintly be seen on his face. He still wore the light blue rabbit onesie he wore to bed. Pyrrha couldn't help but stifle a fond chuckle. Jaune then began shivering, prompting Pyrrha to quickly but gently shut the door.

She went downstairs, looking for a room that had what she was looking for, something she could only get back there, in Lothric. Finally she found it: a fireplace. She opened the glass case, put in a red Dust crystal in a crucible in the back of the fireplace before putting a Schnee © brand synthetic log in place.

"Wait, do I take the wrapping off?" she pondered, before ignoring the issue and concentrated on the switch for the fireplace, hesitantly turning the knob. The red crystal she put in place began to glow softly, and as she turned it, eventually the log caught on fire, engulfing it in warm, comforting flames. Or at least, as much as it could manage with what it was.

Pyrrha stared into it, eventually crossing her legs and sitting down directly in front of it. Being this close to the flame would be almost intolerable for anyone else, even with Aura, just the heat itself was uncomfortable. But for Pyrrha, this was as close to the old feeling of warmth and calm she could get. The warmth and calm of a bonfire.

* * *

"The city of Mistral…" Qrow said with a gravelly voice.

"Uggh, it's about time!" Nora piped.

All 6 were walking down a road in one of the mountains, having left the house they were staying in some time ago.

"Whose idea was it to walk again?" Nora whined.

"Well" Ren began to speak, "we _did_ face many obstacles. Broken airships, destroyed settlements…"

"Or you know," Jaune said, "all those people and monsters that tried to _murder_ us."

Pyrrha's head lowered slightly, her eyes focusing on the small amount of her breastplate she could see, nicked and scratched over the vast amount of time she spent in the other place. "Well, nothing out of the ordinary there" Pyrrha quipped, managing a weak smile.

"Yeah," Ruby smiled, "only one of us nearly died."

Qrow turned to Ruby with a grin on his face. "Hey!"

Nora did the same to Ren, who similarly defended himself. Jaune also turned to Pyrrha, but Pyrrha only nervously scratched the back of her head. Finally they reached the end of the passage, and in front of them was a giant pair of doors. "So," Jaune said, looking away from Pyrrha somewhat nervous, "how far from Haven Academy?"

"Almost there, but I figured I'd take you kids on the scenic route." Qrow walked up to the double doors and pushed them open. Rays of sunlight pouring into the hill, temporarily blinding them. Pyrrha put a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun, but lowered it and saw...Lothric Castle's high wall, dilapidated and ruined, the sky a blood red-orange color, with hints of the old yellow green sky it once had, torn banners fluttering in the breeze. Up above it all, was the sun, blackened and surrounded by a burning orange ring.

"Wow!" Ruby gasped in gleeful awe. Pyrrha turned to her before double-taking to what she was seeing before. The sky was bright blue and the sun was gold and searing up ahead. Below them was a bustling market, smiles being seen on them from the telescope on the platform they stood on, the entire city being flanked the verdurous mountains, one of which they came from, the one on the other side having a flowing blue waterfall, which cascaded down in front of several houses built to the side.

Pyrrha breathed a sigh of relief, putting a hand to her head and giving a panting laugh.

"This...is...awesome!" Ruby cried out again, alternating from gushing over the city with her eyes and gushing over the city with the telescope. "Oh my gosh! Look at all the weapons!"

Jaune himself was in awe of the city. "They really made the most out of these mountains."

"Every inch." Qrow said. "Stay away from the lower levels, though. The higher up you go, the nicer it is."

"And we're going up!" Nora declared pointing up as she did. After holding her position for several seconds with no reaction from anyone, she pouted at Ren, who promptly pulled the switch to activate the platform. The platform shook and began to move up the mountain.

* * *

Haven Academy was...quiet, deserted. Lifeless. Of course, Pyrrha had seen more dead lands than this, full of ash, fire, burning snow, and sometimes nothing at all. Haven still had lush green grass and oxygen in the air, but the fact that it _did_ have those things made it all so...strange. It's as though everyone in the school disappeared hours before they arrived.

"We made it." Ruby breathed a sigh of relief, oblivious to the emptiness of the campus.

RNJR walked forward, but Qrow and Pyrrha stopped and looked around. "You feel it too huh?" Qrow said to her.

Pyrrha nodded. "It's not right. Where is everyone?"

"Well I guess school isn't really in session. Maybe that's it?" Ren said to the other three as they walked around looking for signs of life.

Qrow was lost in thought. "No, this isn't right at all. Come on." Qrow then began running to the office building, with the others following behind him.

They burst into the hall, which was just as empty, with barely any ambience to speak of. He continued running until he got to the end of the hall, reaching a pair of wooden doors. Qrow stopped the others and drew his greatsword. "Get ready, there could be trouble."

The others drew their weapons, including Pyrrha, unsheathing her broadsword and readying her shield. Qrow immediately kicked the door open, revealing a grey bearded man just behind it, who threw up his hands and screamed in shock, sending Qrow off balance and falling on his behind. Ruby, Jaune, and Nora screamed in shock as well while Ren stared concerned and Pyrrha tensed up and gritted her teeth. Every instinct she had was to start swinging before he could get too close, but she concentrated every muscle to remain still.

Left on his own, the man lost his balance and almost fainted in surprise.

"Uh, Professor Lionheart?"

Both men sat up, with Lionheart breathing an oxygen deprived sigh. "Qrow! For crying out loud, you almost scared me half to death."

Qrow was indignant and stood up. " _Me?_ Why weren't you waiting by the entrance?"

Professor Lionheart was confused, but on checking his pocket-watch, he ended up giving a sheepish smile. "Oh, right. Apologies. I guess time slipped away from me. Ah, you must be the students Qrow mentioned."

Ruby smiled and playfully readied a loose salute. "Ruby Rose."

"Lie Ren"

"Nora Valkyrie"

"Jaune Arc"

And then all eyes were on the girl with battered armor and short, rough red hair with soft but weary green eyes. "Pyrrha Nikos" she finally said.

Lionheart's eyes went wide and his jaw quivered and lowered. "Y-you are...but I had heard, q-Qrow, you said she'd…"

Pyrrha's face twisted and she looked away from Lionheart. She clenched her left fist softly, the hand that wore the ring.

"Hey hey hey! Focus!" Qrow said, catching Lionheart before he fainted again. "Where is the rest of the staff?"

"But she's… and walking around-"

"Leo! Who's guarding the relic!?"

"Qrow, _the children_ …" Lionheart said in a hushed whisper, double taking with his eyes at RNJR and twice with Pyrrha.

"Already know."

"Umm," Pyrrha raised her hand. "Relics?"

" _Most_ already know. I filled them in. What do you mean the staff is away?"

"You... _filled them in_?" Lionheart repeated in an astonished whisper.

"So, is this not at all going like anyone thought it would?"

* * *

Lionheart's office was warm and inviting in its autumn color, with the musk of dust particles from the books in the room. Ren and Nora sat together on a couch with a table, clearly meant for guests such as themselves. It contrasted with Professor Ozpin's cold, yet brilliant and awe inspiring office. This seemed like a house, that an old man had lived and worked in for so long. It was-

Pyrrha snapped her head to the back of the room. Her eyes were wide and darting around. Her Darksign was freezing and cut into her skin.

"I have to say Qrow, this all seems reckless, even for you" Lionheart said. Pyrrha drowned them out, focusing on finding where the feeling was coming from. Jaune noticed her soft panic and looked to her, trying to follow her gaze.

"What is it?"

"I-there's-"

"There was _nothing_ to check in _about_ before the fall of Beacon, but since that day, Mistral has been in chaos!" they heard Lionheart shout, snapping Pyrrha out of her gaze. He was standing from his chair fists clenched and staring at Qrow, though not quite staring him down. "Vale wasn't the only kingdom to suffer that night. Everyone was watching. Every house in every kingdom saw that poor girl-"

Lionheart stopped however, remembering Pyrrha was in the room. Pyrrha began walking slowly to the door, stopping halfway to it, only needing space. She couldn't see it, but Ruby looked pained at Pyrrha, remembering needing to save her from Grimm because she couldn't move.

"And" Lionheart continued, "on top of everything, we still don't know where the Spring Maiden is."

Pyrrha immediately turned around and looked at Lionheart, who was sitting at his desk again.

"All the more reason we need huntsmen and huntresses here!" Qrow said, his impatience growing.

Ruby shook herself from her stillness in the middle of this conversation and went in between Qrow and Lionheart. "Ok ok, things are bad, they're _bad_. But we can figure this out."

Pyrrha couldn't help but sigh, albeit somewhat fondly. She didn't exactly know why, but she felt like keeping it that way.

"Why is the Spring Maiden important?"

"The Maidens," Pyrrha began saying, walking back to the center of the room, "are individuals with extraordinary, and magical, power, able to control the elements without the use of aura," she explained to Ruby, "and that woman who...I fought, Cinder Fall, is one of them now."

"That's...half of it I suppose." Said Lionheart, twiddling his fingers.

"...What do you-" Pyrrha snapped her head once more to the sides and back of the room as the Darksign froze on her back.

After a pause as the rest of the room saw Pyrrha's strange behavior, Lionheart continued. "The four Maidens each have the power to perform feats of magic, but they are also the only ones able to access the Relics."

"And Cinder is one of them? Like Pyrrha said?" Jaune questioned. "Then where is she? She came with Emerald and Mercury from Haven. Do you have anything on them?"

"We pulled their files after the fall of Beacon. Nothing but lies and forgeries."

Pyrrha stepped forward, "But maybe there is something there, clues or a loose thread, maybe?" Qrow then tried putting a hand on her shoulder, but Pyrrha lightly pushed his hand away before he could set it. "There should be something we could find. If she's allowed to walk free, she could cause further destruction. If we just can find _something, anything_ , p-" The Darksign froze again, and she began breathing heavily from the shock of being interrupted by it mid-sentence. However, as she looked behind her, she saw the surprised faces of Ren, Nora and Ruby, while Jaune looked saddened as well.

Qrow however had a steeled, almost unreadable expression, and she was unable to differentiate it from his usual gruffness. When she turned back, Lionheart was taken aback as well, but calmed down and stood up. "I...think we should return when things have...calmed down a bit."

Qrow gave a small look at Pyrrha before sighing. "Alright." Lionheart sat back down, but Qrow shoved his scroll in his face. "We aren't finished Leo. Local Comms are still up. Call you later." He backed away and motioned for the others to come with him.

Ruby stopped at the door as she was about to leave. "It was...good to meet you professor…" she meekly said.

Professor Lionheart was a bit stunned, but gave a nervous smile. "Likewise."

The group left, but Pyrrha made a small look back to the office before the doors closed.

* * *

The holographic display hummed to life, and a shimmering blue 'W' erupted from the desk.

"I...I'm sorry, I couldn't-"

'W' cut him off. "That girl," he said. "She knows something, or feels something. Who did you say she was?"

"She is, or was or, I-...Her name is Pyrrha Nikos."

"Hmm," W said, "now where have I heard that name before? We _definitely_ must tell her about this."

"B-but, so soon? They just-"

"Oh and Leo, do practice on your improvisational skills. You got lucky this time."

The holographic W disappeared, leaving Lionheart alone.

* * *

The living room was eerily quiet, everyone too nervous to say anything. Ruby had gone to another room to read some comic books. Pyrrha sat still on one chair, fiddling with her ring, while Jaune sat nervous on the couch opposite of her.

"So…" Jaune spoke, nervously and cautiously, "what _happened_ in there? What was all that? Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha didn't answer at first, still twisting her ring and looking down. "I...I was just...I just wanted to know where they went is all."

"I didn't meant that. What was getting you so worked up in there?"

"It…" she trailed, trying to find words somewhere in her brain. "It was this _feeling_ I got. It felt like...It felt as though someone was going to come up behind us and stab me."

Jaune's eyes widened but lowered. He seemed to twist his face around, just wondering what to say next. "What happened to you?"

Pyrrha jerked her head upward to face Jaune. "What?"

"Everyone said you were dead, Ruby even told me he saw you get an arrow in the chest. You were gone...and now you're back, and you've changed." Pyrrha looked away from Jaune and stared, crestfallen, at the end table next to her. "Pyrrha...I just….I just want to know if you're ok."

Pyrrha looked into Jaune's eyes, which were full of desperate compassion and pleading. She knew he was telling the truth, she knew he wanted to help. She just wanted to know if that was enough.

"I-"

A knock came at the door, interrupting her. Jaune looked to Pyrrha and then got up to answer the door. When opening it revealed a small teen boy, bashfully holding his hands below his waist.

"Can I...help you?" Jaune asked when the boy kept standing there, looking at the ground not saying anything.

"Uhh... yeah. Is there a Ruby Rose?"

Ren and Nora stood up, surprisingly alarmed from such an innocuous question coming from a normal looking boy. " _Why?_ " Nora asked.

"Well-"

"I _found_ him!" Qrow cried out, an audacious grin on his face as he pulled himself to the boy's side. He then shambled into the house, cackling as though he had some sort of fever.

"I think her uncle could use a little help." The boy said, somewhat embarrassed by Qrow's stupor.

"Whoah, ugh." Qrow immediately stumbled and flopped on the couch Jaune abandoned just earlier, relaxing into near unconsciousness. "Oooh, I found him"

"What is going on here!?" cried a voice. Ruby then revealed herself, storming down to the living room to investigate the noise. "Can't a girl read her comic books in _peace_!?" A burp from Qrow quickly got the girl's attention. Her hand went to her face as she sighed, "Qrow, did you get drunk again?"

" _Mmmaybe_ " Qrow spilled out, still smiling while shielding his eyes with his arm.

The boy slowly approached, his eyes widened in surprise and awe. "You have...silver eyes…"

Ruby looked at the boy, curious at what he said. "Who...are you?"

This elicited a chuckle from Qrow as the boy shifted himself, preparing to speak. "Well, my name is Oscar Pine-"

"Wait for _it_ …" Qrow said, raising his index finger while still reclining on the couch.

"But you may know me as...Professor Ozpin?"

Everyone in the room gasped at this news, except for Pyrrha, who stared wide-eyed at this boy, Oscar. She realized how little she thought of Ozpin when she was in Lothric, what had happened in the vault below Beacon, or his involvement in it. But somehow, for some reason, she suddenly wanted to know. And wanted to know if he understood what she had to go through because of it. In any event, Pyrrha Nikos didn't move a muscle.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Another late chapter, and not even for the main series. I'll be honest, this might be more common. I hope to do more and complete things regularly (there honestly isn't much left in Invincible Girl), but I cannot promise they'll come as regularly.**

 **I will not ditch any series I do though, past, present, or future. I won't be that fanfic author who up and dies (or at least, their fic dies, hopefully) before their story is complete. It's just I'm a bit slow when it comes down to it.**

 **Still, I hope you like this chapter and tell me how good or shit it is. As a consolation, I'm also adding a scene from the next chapter. Here ya go.**

* * *

Going to bed was merely an excuse, just to get away from everything. In truth, Pyrrha still couldn't sleep. She didn't know whether it was because of mundane problems, whether it was from the bad memories she still had, or if it was from her...condition. Either way, she curled before the fire, the only thing that had brought her comfort so far it seemed. She was absorbed by the fire, staring at it intently, almost wanting to see _something_ in the blaze.

"What's that?" she heard a gravelly voice behind him. She turned around, seeing Qrow, holding a coffee cup in his hand, adorned on his face were the heavy eyes people wore when it was early in the morning.

He took a sip from the mug and sat down on a chair behind her. "What do you mean?" she asked him.

"That circle on your back. The glowing one."

Pyrrha widened her eyes, looking away from him. "It's...It's just a scar…" she said, knowing in her head just how weak the lie was.

"Some scar" Qrow snarked, taking another sip from his cup.

"Why do you want to know?" She snapped at him.

"I've seen that look everywhere on Remnant. I saw it on people who've lost everything, usually to Grimm. I've even seen it on students of mine." He leaned forward to Pyrrha. "You show up from the grave with strange armor, acting jumpy, and with a glowing orange scar on your back, and you don't seem to be wanting to share."

"Do I have to?" she said, not turning away from the fire.

"No. But you _do_ have a choice. Either tell your team, and let them help you. Or, keep pretending it didn't happen."

Qrow got up and began to leave. However Pyrrha stood up and turned to Qrow. "Qrow...why are you telling me this?"

Qrow stopped and sighed. He turned around and looked her in the eyes. "Because whatever happened to you while you were gone, happened."


	3. Ch 3: Searching for a Distraction

Ch 3: Searching for a Distraction

Pyrrha stayed silent as Professor Ozpin revealed himself. During the Battle of Beacon, when he fought, he failed, and was killed, allowing Cinder to advance and continue with her plan if it wasn't for the timely intervention of a girl with extraordinary power and abilities. Not only this, but he had died time and again and returned each time to fulfill what seemed like an impossible task.

What a coincidence, Pyrrha solemnly noticed.

The line up of events, regardless, festered in her mind, and something else bothered her. Every so often Oscar, or Ozpin, would look at her, almost suspicious of her.

RNJR, for some reason, didn't stop to think about any of this, it didn't seem like they could wrap their head around such a fantastic oddity. They just accepted it. After all, who was in their midst but someone they thought was dead a few days ago?

Suddenly she felt a cold pressure on her shoulder, and she saw Jaune had put his hand on it, trying to reassure her. In truth...it did, she could tell. The rambling thoughts and anxious feelings had been relieved. She closed her eyes and exhaled through her nose, allowing a (more) relaxed expression to grow on her face.

Ren was speaking to Professor Ozpin now. "But I thought the headmasters all took orders from you."

Ozpin...car's….

'Damn!' she thought.

Ozpin's face frowned and looked to a painting of the Mistral mountains, the same ones RNJR passed over in fact. "That was the plan: a collection of four lieutenants I can trust, especially during periods of reincarnation. But Qrow told me about Leonardo and the discussion he had after you left."

'The discussion I ruined,' Pyrrha thought to herself.

"He's not simply being erratic," Ozpin continued, "he's disobeying _specific_ instructions I left for him."

This piqued Pyrrha's attention, snapping her eyes open. All she could do was stare at the floor and let things swirl about in her head again.

"Something's wrong. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I don't want to rule out any possibilities."

"Like Lionheart-" Pyrrha stopped herself just as she started, looking away from Ozpin.

Ozpin looked up at the girl in disheveled armor firmly and inquisitively. "...Go on."

She breathed in. "Possibilities like _Professor_ Lionheart acting...against our interest?"

The air in the living room was frozen in time and kept still.

" _Pyrrha?"_ Nora gasped. Jaune lifted her hand to calm her down...but he still sent a concerned look at Pyrrha, who was shifting her eyes to the floor again.

"Explain, Ms. Nikos." Ozpin said, more curious than anything.

"He...he didn't seem to investigate into the people who killed...Penny Polendina and destroyed Beacon." Ruby visibly looked pained at Pyrrha mentioning her again. "There's more as well. When we were in Lionheart's office, I felt a presence. It was as though something in there was going to come out and kill me, or _wished_ to."

The air grew more stale. "You are _certain_ of this?" Ozpin pressed.

"I...I'm familiar with the feeling. That's usually what occurs."

Jaune's eyes opened slightly at hearing this.

The air became slightly less tense as Ozpin began to speak again. "You are not wrong Pyrrha Nikos. I suspect Leonardo has begun to worry about his own self-preservation in my absence, and in his blind fear allowed himself to defect. But I have made it a policy to have faith in those who have held faith in me. I don't wish to change that if I don't have to."

"But we-" she stopped herself again. "Nevermind, Professor. I just…"

"It's alright. I understand your desire to help, but for now, we must be cautious. No one outside this room knows I have switched bodies. We have to keep this advantage as long as possible."

The conversation came full circle, and Pyrrha wanted to ask something that was gnawing at her for some time after his reveal. "Professor...can I ask a question?"

"Please."

"What...did it feel like? Dying I mean."

Ozpin blinked, staring at her for solid second before answering. "It all depends how really. That is the crux of it. There are many ways to die in this world, and they all feel different. But dying for me is different from the likes you." He pointed specifically at RNJR. "Dying for me is simple. But though that is true, it doesn't mean I squander my lives. In the end, it's _how_ you die that leaves your mark."

'It's _how_ you die that leaves your mark.' The words echoed in Pyrrha's head like it were a large cathedral, and her face contorted in pain. She squeezed the bridge of her nose and fought back tears.

"Pyrr-" Jaune began before being gently pushed back.

"I...I'm going to bed." She shambled off to her room with no other words.

* * *

Going to bed was merely an excuse, just to get away from everything. In truth, Pyrrha still couldn't sleep. She didn't know whether it was because of mundane problems, whether it was from the bad memories she still had, or if it was from her...condition. Either way, she curled before the fire, the only thing that had brought her comfort so far it seemed. Well, _one_ thing that brought he comfort. She was absorbed by the fire, staring at it intently, almost wanting to see _something_ in the blaze.

"What's that?" she heard a gravelly voice behind him. She turned around, seeing Qrow, holding a coffee cup in his hand, adorned on his face were the heavy eyes people wore when it was early in the morning.

He took a sip from the mug and sat down on a chair behind her. "What do you mean?" she asked him.

"That circle on your back. The glowing one."

Pyrrha widened her eyes, looking away from him. "It's...It's just a scar…" she said, knowing in her head just how weak the lie was.

"Some scar" Qrow snarked, taking another sip from his cup.

"Why do you want to know?" She snapped at him.

"I've seen that look everywhere on Remnant. I saw it on people who've lost everything, usually to Grimm. I've even seen it on students of mine." He leaned forward to Pyrrha. "You show up from the grave with strange armor, acting jumpy, and with a glowing orange scar on your back, and you don't seem to be wanting to share."

"Do I have to?" she said, not turning away from the fire.

"No. But you _do_ have a choice. Either tell your team, and let them help you. Or, keep pretending it didn't happen."

Qrow got up and began to leave. However Pyrrha stood up and turned to Qrow. "Qrow...why are you telling me this?"

Qrow stopped and sighed. He turned around and looked her in the eyes. "Because whatever happened to you while you were gone, happened."

As simple of a statement it was, she could not find an answer for it.

Qrow turned his back again. "I'll be out for awhile. Catch you later."

"Where are you going?" She asked.

Qrow hesitated. "...I'm supposed to find and recruit some huntsmen, anyone not out on a mission"

Pyrrha paused. "Can...I go with you?"

Qrow frowned and lowered his head in thought.

* * *

Jaune sat and stared at the glowing horizon as the sun began to rise from behind the mountains. In the garden with him was the rest of RNJR and Ozpin...car…

'Damn!' Jaune thought.

They were either training together with Ozpin's assistance, or cheering on from the side. Either way, Jaune wasn't paying attention, he stopped a little while after finding a place to sit on the ground. The sounds around him drowned out as he thought of all that had happened, all he learned. Two people returned from the dead, both different in someway. It was the one he knew, the one he _loved_ that he was worried about. EverythingJauneseemed wrong, and he could feel it. It was nothing concrete, nothing he could see, but there was something on Pyrrha that was weighing herJaunedown so much it threatened to crush her, and he didn't seem-

"Jaune!"

Jaune snapped back into reality as he looked to Nora, the source of the call. "Hmm?"

"We were talking about your semblance. Were you listening?"

"Sorry. I was just thinking. I can't do anything."

The topic didn't continue. Ruby smiled at first to say something, but her face sank a second later. "What...were you thinking about?"

"He was thinking about Pyrrha" Ren noted, his face still and looking to the ground.

Jaune paused and looked at Ruby, Nora, and Oscar. "Haven't we all?"

"I don't know," Nora said, sitting down. "It's so weird. I'm so glad she's back, I thought we'd never see her again, but…"

"She's not the same?" Ren said, not taking his eyes off the ground. "For that matter, she appears different as well. Not to mention the way she returned. How did she survive? How did she find us in Mistral?"

The group looked at the boy who was training with them. His eyes were more stern than they were before.

"Ozpin? Is there anything you can tell us."

Ozpin was silent for a small while, not a reassuring sign. Finally he turned to RNJR. "She _is_ different in more ways than one, but I was not present when she allegedly died, so I have no knowledge of what happened or how she could have returned."

Ruby was squirming in discomfort. "I hope she's ok. She doesn't seem to want to talk about it, maybe if we just give her some time she can tell us, w-when she wants to."

"I wouldn't say we should do that, but it is clear she is not interested in telling us anytime soon, not of her own accord." Ozpin pointed out.

Jaune got up and looked to the rising Mistral sun before looking back to the house.

A short walk up the stairs later, he reached Pyrrha's room, having not seen her anywhere else in the house. He knocked on the door to no reply. He nudged it open.

"Pyrrha?" She was nowhere to be found. "...Well. I'll be here if you need me."

* * *

A few days after the talk with Ozpin, Qrow and Pyrrha walked out into the bustling streets of Mistral. While storm clouds made the roads more sparse than they would have otherwise been, the city was still full of life.

Pyrrha got a good impression of that while waiting outside the bar Qrow went into.

It seemed so silly to her, though she didn't know why. 'Maybe he thinks I'd drink everything in there. He would' she cynically thought. She banished the thought, no matter how sympathetically accurate it was. Deep down, she knew the reason, or thought she knew. It was silly because she would have been uncomfortable going in such a place back then or the idea of consuming alcohol.

A lot about her has changed.

The thought made her remember her time in Lothric, but this was a positive memory, which had an amount she could at least count on two hands. She remembered her friend, Siegward, the bumbling, sweet warrior who supported her throughout her time there. She had fond memories of the strange brew he called Siegbrau.

Well, mostly fond memories.

Yelling came from the bar and with blinding speed a figure left the building, sliding the door open and shut. Pyrrha drew her sword, but it was just Qrow, who looked like he saw a...ghost.

She sheathed her sword. "No luck?"

"Nope." A knife then erupted from the cloth slide door, an inch from Qrow's head.

The search continued to stall. It seemed no one knew any Huntsmen or their locations on the rare occasions they did. Most distressingly, their families haven't even seen them. The two had returned to the bar. Apparently one of the missing Huntsmen had a sizable debt and he felt he had to set it right, since he couldn't.

Pyrrha, meanwhile, was left to her thoughts once more. The fact that so many Huntsmen, defenders of the kingdom and of this city in particular were gone. She wasn't worried about them anymore, she was worried for this city. Beacon had fallen to chaos and destruction, and it had the student bodies of every Huntsmen academy on the planet. She stared at the colossal upper complex that contained Haven Academy, far up high and away from where they were now. And her vision flashed between it and the cold lifelessness of Lothric Castle, ashen and sad, where even the monsters that destroyed it had long since passed away. It was this juxtaposition of images that haunted her nightmares.

"You know babe, you kinda look familiar."

She looked around to find the source of the voice. She turned to her right and saw a youth with a bandana over his mouth and aviator sunglasses.

"Don't she look familiar?" he asked

She heard steps from all around her, from the alleyway, from her left facing the street, and behind her.

"Yeah, ain't she the girl from the cereal box a few months back?"

"What's up with her hair?"

The aviator youth shut them up. "It's her, I'm telling ya. Which means you've gotta have _some_ dough on ya."

Pyrrha drew her sword and circled around at the crowd of thugs surrounding her. "Get back, don't come any closer!"

"Or what? Champion or not, you can't get us all at once!"

She tensed up. "Please, don't do this!"

"Hehe she's scared man, this's too easy!"

"I don't want to hurt you…"

Aviator thug pulled out a sword and charged at Pyrrha. Pyrrha parried the attack with her hand and thrust with her sword without thinking. The thug wasn't run through like she expected, but was knocked back gripping his stomach in pain.

A larger Faunus thug from behind her raised a club and swept downward at her. Seeing this at the last second she rolled aside and slashed at his leg before swiping at his chest and kicking him in the gut, knocking him down.

Three more thugs ran her way wielding a chain, a sword and a mace. She turned to the chain thug, grabbing the chain as he brought it down and using his momentum to throw him into the mace guy before using her sword to block the sword thug's slash from behind. Turning to face the swordsman, she blocked another slash and immediately followed through with several, some blocked but most connecting. Finally, she brought him down to the ground with a strong downward slash, his body sparking with energy.

The man squirmed but Pyrrha rushed forward to finish him when a gunshot rang out, causing her to lose focus missing stabbing the man's head by an inch.

Pyrrha came to her senses and saw the man's weary, sinister eyes nevertheless filled with vulnerable fear. Before she could collect her thoughts, the man kicked her in the abdomen, knocking her back before running off into the alleys never to be seen again.

It had begun to rain now, and Pyrrha flipped herself over and raised her upper-body to see Qrow outside the bar with his weapon raised in the air, barrel smoking. Pyrrha lowered her head and turned it away in shame, but Qrow came over and lifted her up.

His expression seemed disappointed, but not upset beyond some sadness. Pyrrha still looked down at the now wet stone path that lined the city streets.

"Come on, kid. Let's get home. I think we should talk."

* * *

 **Author's Note(s): The Hollow is back for a spell! Just wanted to get at least something out before the month ends, since next month is the 1 year anniversary of The Invincible Girl and I need to write something for that.**

 **Not all is shiny roses though. My schedule is a tad busy and I am still the same lazy writer as ever. Plus, Volume 5 was a major step down in my opinion and a severe disappointment (which will mean more outside of the series moments such as the above scene). I think I have one more (short) story set in RWBY left in me before I swear off making any new ones based on it. I have been giving some thought to writing other stories or collaborating with a friend to make a webcomic in a different universe, but that is another story that might be coming soon.**

 **This is not to say I will abandon any fic that I have published, I am keeping the promise that I won't. But I'm not sure if I can continue doing new stuff for RWBY, not for awhile at least.**

 **But with all that said, I am working on the aforementioned short story, which I am planning to release in full (or over the course of a week or two) once it is finished. Work on that will resume once I am done with this next chapter of Invincible Girl.**

 **Be sure to comment or leave a review if you have a question or concern. Stay tuned.**


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